Fiber-optic equipment enclosure sensors

ABSTRACT

Fiber-optic equipment is often deployed in various locations, and performance of fiber-optic transmissions may be monitored as a gauge of equipment status to prevent costly and inconvenient communication outages. Events that damage equipment that eventually result in outage and may be desirable to address proactively, but the occurrence of such events may be difficult to detect only through equipment performance. Presented herein are techniques for monitoring and maintaining fiber-optic equipment performance via enclosure sensors that measure physical properties within a fiber-optic equipment enclosure, such as temperature, pressure, light, motion, vibration, and moisture, which are often diagnostic and predictive of causes of eventual communication outages, such as temperature-induced cable loss (TICL), incomplete flash-testing during installation, exposure to hazardous environmental conditions, and tampering. An enclosure sensor package transmits the physical measurements to a monitoring station, and automatic determination of enclosure-related events may enable triaging and transmission of repair alerts to maintenance personnel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to U.S.Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 17/335,057 filed on May 31,2021 which claimed priority to U.S. Non-Provisional patent applicationSer. No. 16/339,915 filed on Apr. 5, 2019 which is a national stagefiling under 35 U.S.C. § 371 claiming priority to InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2017/055575, entitled “FIBER-OPTIC EQUIPMENTENCLOSURE SENSORS” filed on Oct. 6, 2017 which claimed priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/405,434, entitled “MONITORINGSYSTEM,” filed on Oct. 7, 2016, the entirety of these applications ishereby incorporated by reference as if fully rewritten herein.

BACKGROUND

Within the field of telecommunication, many scenarios involve thedeployment throughout a region of a fiber-optic cable network, includingfiber-optic equipment such as hubs, converters, switches, repeaters, andfiber-optic splices. Equipment is often deployed in enclosure thatprovides security and shelter from environmental conditions such assunlight, moisture, and animals. In such scenarios, the performance ofthe cabling and equipment may be monitored by monitoring performance;e.g., damaged cables may be identified by detecting a loss oftransmission capability or attenuation of signal strength, and equipmentdamage may be identified by detecting an unacceptable error rate or aloss of throughput.

Because fiber-optic outages are often costly and inconvenient, it isdesirable to predict and prevent outages. As a first example,diminishing performance may signal an eventual failure, and replacementof the equipment or cabling in a proactive manner, even while exhibitingdiminished but acceptable performance, may avoid a sudden failure at alater date. As a second example, remotely monitoring some environmentalproperties, such as temperatures throughout the region, may indicate theoccurrence of events that may have caused equipment to incur damage,necessitating testing or proactive replacement. In this manner, theperformance of the fiber-optic network may be preserved through adiligent maintenance regimen. As a third such example, routinemaintenance schedules may be adopted to test and replace equipment on aperiodic basis.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key factors oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Maintaining the performance of a fiber-optic communications networkthrough techniques such as performance testing may address some types offailure but may not enable the detection and proactive response to othertypes of failure.

As a first example, conditions such as temperature-induced cable loss(TICL) may occur when equipment in an enclosure is exposed to extremetemperatures for an extended period. While damage may be incurredgradually during exposure, the eventual failure of the equipment mayoccur suddenly and without incremental signal degradation. Moreover,generalized temperature monitoring may indicate a possibility oftemperature-related damage, but the temperature in a region maysignificantly differ from the temperature within each equipmentenclosure, e.g., due to variations in enclosure insulation, localizedclimate variation, and the contribution of heat produced by theequipment. Predictions of temperature-related damage drawn from regionalclimate may therefore exhibit numerous false negatives (e.g., whereequipment was presumed to be adequately protected via insulation andwere not tested or replaced, but where an insulation failure causeddamage to be incurred) and/or false positives (e.g., where equipment waspresumed to have been damaged by extreme temperatures, but wheretemperatures within the enclosure remained within an acceptable range).

As a second example, deployment often involves “flash-testing” equipmentafter installation by pressurizing the enclosure to verify sealing, buta failure to flash-test or inadequate flash-testing may result in anenclosure that is not fully airtight. While the installed equipment mayexhibit full performance for a time. However, exposure to moisture maycause leakage that damages equipment in an undetected manner, and causesa sudden communication outage that was undetectable via performancemonitoring.

As a third example, equipment in an aerial deployment, such as a utilitypole, may be vulnerable to environmental conditions, such as wind andvibration, if the equipment is not properly anchored and/or damped. Therisks may be undetectable from performance monitoring (e.g., theequipment may be subjected to vibration and/or may sway in the wind on aloose suspension), and the failure of the suspended equipment (e.g.,vibration to the point of breaking, or a failure of the anchoringhardware) may result in a sudden communication outage.

It may be appreciated that these forms of failure and threats tocontinued performance are difficult to detect solely from performancemetrics. Additionally, routine testing may be costly or even hazardous,e.g., if equipment is deployed in remote regions that are difficultand/or dangerous for maintenance personnel to access.

Presented herein are techniques that facilitate the monitoring,diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of fiber-optic telecommunication. Inaccordance with these techniques, an enclosure of fiber-optic equipmentis supplemented with an enclosure monitor, comprising an enclosuresensor that measures one or more physical properties of the enclosure,and a transmitter that transmits messages about the physical propertiesto a monitoring service. The monitoring service collects messages aboutthe physical properties of the enclosures to determine actual and/orprospective failure conditions and alerts maintenance personnel of tasksto be performed on the enclosures, equipment, and/or cabling. The use ofsuch techniques and hardware may enable a variety of maintenanceimprovements, such as more accurate diagnosis of failure conditions;more efficient maintenance; and rapid triaging and alerting to addressactual and/or developing failures.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the followingdescription and annexed drawings set forth certain illustrative aspectsand implementations. These are indicative of but a few of the variousways in which one or more aspects may be employed. Other aspects,advantages, and novel features of the disclosure will become apparentfrom the following detailed description when considered in conjunctionwith the annexed drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring scenarios formaintaining fiber-optic equipment for a fiber-optic cable.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring an enclosuresensor that measures a physical measurement of a physical property of anenclosure of fiber-optic equipment and a monitoring service thattransmits an alert to maintenance personnel responsive to the physicalmeasurement, in accordance with the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring scenarios formaintaining fiber-optic equipment for a fiber-optic cable, in accordancewith the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring some exampleembodiments of an enclosure monitor of fiber-optic equipment inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

FIGS. 5A-5B are illustrations of example depictions of an enclosuresensor of an enclosure of fiber-optic equipment in accordance with thetechniques presented herein.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring some exampleembodiments of a monitoring service of a fiber-optic network inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of example scenarios featuring some examplesof an enclosure sensor of an enclosure of fiber-optic equipment inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring an examplemonitoring of a flash-test performed on an enclosure in accordance withthe techniques presented herein.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example scenario featuring variouspresentations of maintenance tasks to be performed on enclosures offiber-optic equipment in accordance with the techniques presentedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may beevident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitatedescribing the claimed subject matter.

A. INTRODUCTION

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a set 100 of example scenarios featuringfiber-optic cables 102 comprising a portion of a fiber-optictelecommunication network that may be deployed throughout a region tocarry many forms of data, such as voice, video, and/or networkcommunication. In this set 100 of example scenarios, fiber-opticequipment 104 may be deployed to provide and maintain fiber-opticcommunication, such as hubs, converters, switches, repeaters, andfiber-optic splices.

The fiber-optic equipment 104 is often deployed in regions that may besubjected to a variety of environmental hazards, such as sunlight,moisture, temperature extremes, wind, snow and ice, hail, andinterference from animals and humans. Such hazards may result in severedor disconnected cabling or damage to the fiber-optic equipment 104,which may cause a communication outage.

Due to the vast amount of data that fiber-optic equipment may carry andthe large user base that fiber-optic networks may serve, outages may becostly and inconvenient. It is therefore advantageous both to recoverfrom outages quickly and to avoid potential future outages throughdiligent testing and maintenance routines

Many techniques may be utilized for both responsive repair andpreventive maintenance. As a first example, a remote monitoring stationmay monitor transmission properties of deployed equipment and cabling,such as transmission rates, error rates, and maximum capacity. Loss oftransmission capability or attenuation of signal strength may indicatedamage to fiber-optic cabling, high error rates or a loss of throughput.Equipment exhibiting degraded performance may be inspected, tested forfaults, and repaired or replaced as necessary.

As a second such example, environmental conditions may be monitored topredict the effects on deployed equipment. For example,temperature-induced cable loss (TICL) may arise from the exposure ofcabling to temperature extremes for at least seven days. A monitoringservice may monitor the temperatures throughout a region to predictwhether equipment or cabling has been exposed to such conditions, andrepair and replacement processes may be invoked as a proactive measure.

As a third such example, equipment may be periodically inspected andtested to verify continued performance, and cabling and equipment thatis prone to performance loss over time may be replaced according to amaintenance schedule. For example, a service life may be estimated forcabling and equipment based on type and conditions of deployment, andthe expiration of service life may prompt a routine replacement, even ifapparently performing adequately, in order to prevent an abrupt failureat a later date.

These and other techniques may be utilized to monitor and/or predictsome types of failure, and to facilitate proactive and/or reactivemaintenance processes. However, some causes of equipment and cablingfailure may not be apparent from performance metrics. Failure to detectthese processes may result in sudden communication outages orperformance degradation. In some cases, failures may result in extendedoutages, e.g., where the point of failure is remote or difficult toaccess; where replacement equipment is not readily available; or whereconcurrent failures occur that exceed available maintenance personnel ortransportation.

As a first such example 128, on a first day 108 of an installation 110,fiber-optic equipment 104 may be deployed in an enclosure 106 to servicea fiber-optic cable 102 in an outdoor location. Typically, suchenclosures 106 are flash-tested to verify sealing of the enclosure 106to prevent exposure of the fiber-optic equipment 104 to hazards, such asby pressurizing the enclosure 106 above an atmosphere and detectingwhether the enclosure 106 holds the pressure (indicating completesealing) or loses pressure (indicating a leak). However, in some cases,the enclosure 106 may not be sealed, and flash-testing may be omitted,performed or measured incorrectly, or not followed up with correctivemeasures. As a result, a gap 112 may exist in the enclosure 106, suchthat at a later day 108 when the enclosure 106 is exposed to rain 114,moisture may leak through the gap 112 and into the enclosure 106,damaging the fiber-optic equipment 104 and causing a sudden outage 116.This type of failure may be difficult to detect by performancemonitoring, since the fiber-optic equipment 104 is likely to performwell until the exposure to rain 114.

As a second such example 130, temperature-induced cable loss (TICL) mayoccur when extreme temperatures 118 occur over a period of time.Equipment so exposed may exhibit a sudden outage 116 at an unpredictabletime, particularly if the equipment is believed to be properly insulated(e.g., believed to be deployed inside a shed that provides shelter fromweather conditions, but accidentally exposed to the elements; or storedwithin insulation that is thinner or less effective than believed).Moreover, detecting the application of TICL from regional conditions, aslocalized conditions may significantly vary. For example, regionaltemperatures 118 that are marginally within acceptable parameters maylocally be more extreme, due to factors such as wind chill or icing (forextreme cold) or direct sunlight (for extreme heat), such that TICL isinduced faster than anticipated. Accordingly, preventive testing andmaintenance may not be deployed in a timely manner, leading to anunexpected failure.

As a third example 132, an aerial deployment of fiber-optic equipment104 using a suspension 120, such as mounting on a utility pole. Suchdeployment may subject the fiber-optic equipment 104 and cable 102 toclimate effects such as heavy wind 122. Maintenance personnel mayendeavor to secure the enclosure 106 via anchoring, but an inadequateinstallation or a failure of the anchoring may cause the enclosure 106to break free, and may therefore exhibit movement 124 (e.g., swaying,rocking, or vibration) when exposed to heavy wind 122. The enclosure 106may withstand the movement 124 for one or several days 108, and maycontinue to function with acceptable performance, but an extended periodof movement 124 without maintenance—of which maintenance personnel maybe unaware, due to the acceptable performance of the fiber-opticequipment 104—may lead to a suspension failure 126, causing theenclosure 106 to separate and fall from the suspension 120 resulting ina communication outage 116, as well as damage to the fiber-opticequipment 104, the fiber-optic cable 102 that may be severed or bentbeyond use, and/or harm to individuals or damage to property positionedunderneath the suspension 120.

These and other problems may arise from hazards imposed upon thefiber-optic equipment 104 that may not be detectable by looking atperformance, or even by inspection or onsite testing. Such hazards mayalso not be reflected by generalized models of fiber-optic equipmentperformance due to unforeseen conditions. Additionally, it may bepossible to guard against such undetectable failures through a diligentmaintenance schedule, e.g., replacing all equipment that is likely tohave been damaged by TICL during a period of extreme weather. However,just as these events may induce false negatives (in which fiber-opticequipment 104 that is believed to be in good condition suddenly fails toundetected faults), additional inefficiency may result from an abundanceof caution. For example, regional temperatures 118 that are believed toinduce TICL may not actually apply to a particular installation offiber-optic equipment 104 that is protected to an extent, and thereforeundamaged by the extreme climate. Dispatching maintenance personnel toinspect, test, and optionally replace such equipment may bewasteful—both in terms of unnecessary effort and equipment, and in termsof diverting resources from other maintenance tasks that may be moreproductive.

For at least these reasons, it is desirable to develop new techniquesfor predicting, preventing, detecting, and/or responding to potentialcommunication outages—in particular, techniques that are more accurateat assessing the condition of the fiber-optic cable 102 and/orfiber-optic equipment 104 on a specific and frequent basis, and in anautomated manner that is not dependent upon inspection or testing bymaintenance personnel.

B. PRESENTED TECHNIQUES

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example scenario 200 featuringtechniques for promoting the monitoring and/or diagnosis of fiber-opticequipment 104. In accordance with this disclosure, an enclosure sensor202 is provided within the enclosure 106 that detects one or morephysical measurements 204 of the enclosure 106, such as the temperature,pressure, moisture such as humidity, motion, orientation, vibration,and/or light level within the enclosure 106. The enclosure sensor 202may conduct the physical measurement 204 continuously, periodically,and/or in response to an event (e.g., a moisture detector may detect thepresence of moisture above a certain threshold, triggering a moisturesensor 202 to measure the amount of moisture). Messages that include,describe, and/or report information based upon the physical measurements204 may be transmitted to a monitoring service 206. If such messagesindicate a potential problem 208, such as temperature extremes, thepresence of moisture, or unexpected or excessive motion or vibration,the monitoring service 206 may transmit an alert 210 to maintenancepersonnel 212 that describes the potential problem 208 and identifiesthe enclosure 106, thus enabling the maintenance personnel 212 toaddress the potential problem 208 such as through inspection, testing,repair, and/or replacement of the fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-opticequipment 104, the enclosure 106, and/or the enclosure sensor 202. Suchtechniques, alone or in combination with other techniques (e.g.,transmission performance monitoring and periodic inspection andtesting), may provide a comprehensive maintenance regimen that detects awide variety of potential faults, and that enables a greater degree ofproactive maintenance to preserve communication service, in accordancewith the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a set 300 of example scenarios in which thetechniques presented herein may facilitate proactive maintenance.

In a first example scenario 302, the installation 110 of the fiber-opticequipment 104 and enclosure 106 during a deployment on a particular day108 may be assisted by flash-testing, in which maintenance personnel 212increase the pressure within the sealed enclosure 106 to detect leaks.In accordance with the techniques presented herein, the enclosure 106may be equipped with a pressure sensor 202 that detects air pressurewithin the enclosure 106, which is expected to rise duringflash-testing. However, due a gap 112 in the enclosure 106, a seal hasnot been established, and no pressurization may be detected by thepressure sensor 202. As a result, an alert 210 may be transmitted to amonitoring service 206 describing a lack of pressurization that denotesa failure of the flash testing. While the cause of the failure may beunknown (e.g., maintenance personnel 212 may have omitted theflash-test; the maintenance personnel 212 may have failed to seal theenclosure 106, or may have performed the flash test incorrectly; or theenclosure 106 may contain a defect that prevents sealing), the detectionof the lack of pressurization may prompt the monitoring service 206 totransmit the alert 210 to maintenance personnel 212 on-site during theinstallation 110, enabling the maintenance personnel 212 to retest,inspect, and/or replace the enclosure 106 to promote sealing through theuse of the techniques presented herein.

In a second example scenario 304, extreme temperatures 118 for anextended period of time may cause problems such as temperature-inducedcable loss (TICL), but determining the degree to which any particularset of fiber-optic cable 102, fiber-optic equipment 104, and/orenclosure 106 have been exposed to temperatures 118 outside of anacceptable range (e.g., the magnitude of the temperature 118 within theenclosure 106 compared with an acceptable range, and/or the duration ofsuch temperatures 118) may enable a more specific status estimation. Inaccordance with the techniques presented herein, the enclosure 106 maybe equipped with a temperature sensor 202 that monitors the temperatureinside, outside, and/or in the vicinity of the enclosure 106, and towhich the fiber-optic cable 102, fiber-optic equipment 104, and/orenclosure 106 may be exposed. The monitoring of temperature 118 by thetemperature sensor 202 enables a determination that temperature-inducedcable loss may be imminent and/or likely, even if the fiber-optic cable102 and/or fiber-optic equipment 104 exhibit acceptable performanceAccordingly, an alert 210 may be transmitted to a monitoring service 206that reports on the temperature 118. Again, the cause of the failure maybe unknown (e.g., excessively high temperature may be caused bycontinued exposure to direct sunlight, mounting of the enclosure 106near a heat source, excess insulation that reduces venting, excessiveheat production by the fiber-optic equipment 104, and/or poor airflowwithin the enclosure 106), and such reporting may not affirmativelyadvise the monitoring service 206 that TICL has been induced or thatcommunication outages are imminent. However, this detection may enable atimely determination of potential TICL prior to its detection in cableperformance, enabling an alert 210 to be dispatched to maintenancepersonnel 212 to test the cable for signs of TICL through the use of thetechniques presented herein.

In a third such scenario 306, the enclosure 106 may be deployed in asuspension 120 that, due to inadequate anchoring or a partial failure ofmounting, causes movement 124 when the enclosure 106 is subjected towind 122. In accordance with the present disclosure, an inertial sensor202 provided in the enclosure 106 may detect the movement 124, resultingin an alert 210 to a monitoring service 206, which may notifymaintenance personnel 212 of the necessity of establishing orreestablishing anchoring of the enclosure 106 to the suspension 120 toreduce the movement 124. This detection may enable a proactive detectionof the problem and a proactive repair of the enclosure 106 in a mannerthat reduces the incidence of a complete failure of the suspension 120resulting in a communication outage 116 through the use of thetechniques presented herein.

C. TECHNICAL EFFECTS

The use of the techniques presented herein may provide a variety oftechnical effects.

A first technical effect that may be achievable through the use of thetechniques presented herein involves a proactive detection of physicalmeasurements 204 that indicate the physical conditions of thefiber-optic equipment 104 and/or the enclosure 106 that, if undetected(such as by maintenance techniques that only utilize performancemonitoring and testing), might result in a sudden and/or unexpectedcommunication outage 116. Accordingly, the use of the techniquespresented herein to monitor such physical conditions may promote thecontinuous provision of communication service.

A second technical effect that may be achievable through the use of thetechniques presented herein involves efficiency gains in the maintenanceof a fiber-optic network. As a first such example, the detection,transmission, evaluation, and action upon physical measurements 204 offiber-optic equipment 104 within enclosures 106 may enable preventivemeasures that are potentially less costly and easier to implement thanrepairs undertaken after a communication outage 116, and/or may provideinformative diagnostic information that indicates a cause of acommunication outage 116, thereby alleviating maintenance personnel 212from performing hands-on testing and inspection, as well as reviewingsuch information to reach the same diagnosis. For example, applyinganchoring or vibration damping to maintain a suspension 120 of anenclosure 106 in an aerial deployment is likely to be morecost-effective than replacing an entire enclosure 106 and severed cable102 as a result of a failure of the suspension 120 and a damaging fall.As a second such example, the use of the techniques presented herein mayreduce false negatives (e.g., a conclusion that fiber-optic equipment104 has not been subjected to extreme temperatures 118 and is thereforenot subject to TICL, when actual circumstances of the enclosure 106 havefailed to protect the fiber-optic equipment 104). As a third suchexample, the use of the techniques presented herein may reduce falsepositives (e.g., where the enclosure 106 has adequately protected thefiber-optic equipment 104 from damaging conditions and has preserved thereliability and continued service of the fiber-optic equipment 104, butwhere a conclusion that fiber-optic equipment 104 has been compromisedmay lead to an unnecessary replacement of fiber-optic equipment 104and/or enclosures 106).

A third technical effect that may be achievable through the use of thetechniques presented herein involves an automated detection andreporting of the physical conditions of the fiber-optic equipment 104and the enclosure 106. Such automated detection and reporting may reducethe reliance upon active inspection and testing by maintenance personnel212, which may be costly (e.g., if the number of deployments offiber-optic equipment 104 is large), delayed (e.g., if the enclosure 106is deployed in a remote location that is difficult to access), and/orhazardous (e.g., if the enclosure 106 is deployed in a location that ispotentially dangerous to maintenance personnel 212). Such automateddetection and reporting may also enable a monitoring service 206 toassess the magnitudes and relative priorities of various potentialproblems 208, thereby enabling a realtime prioritization based on suchproperties as efficiency, cost, timeliness, and numbers of customers whomay be inconvenienced by a communication outage 116, rather thandepending upon maintenance personnel 212 and dispatchers fromspeculating about maintenance priorities without a clear, fully detailedunderstanding of the status of the fiber-optic equipment 104 within eachenclosure 106. Many such technical effects may be achievable through theuse of the techniques presented herein.

D. EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example scenario 400 featuring a fewexample embodiments of the techniques presented herein. In this examplescenario 400, fiber-optic equipment 104 of a fiber-optic cable 102 ishoused by an enclosure 106, which is often sealed to protect thefiber-optic equipment 104, e.g., from the environment and unauthorizedaccess by humans. The enclosure 106 of the fiber-optic equipment 104further comprises an enclosure monitor 402 that monitors the enclosure106 and reports physical status information to a monitoring service 206.In some embodiments, the enclosure monitor 402 may be deployed with, andoptionally integrated with, the enclosure 106; in other embodiments, theenclosure monitor 402 may comprise a supplemental package that may beadded to a previously deployed enclosure 106.

The enclosure monitor 402 further comprises an enclosure sensor 202enclosure sensor that measures a physical measurement 204 of a physicalproperty of the enclosure 106, such as temperature within the sealedcompartment comprising the enclosure 106; air pressure within theenclosure 106; and/or the presence of moisture, such as humidity orliquid water, within the enclosure 106. The enclosure monitor 402further comprises a processor 404 and a memory 406 that storescomponents of a system that processes the physical measurement 204,wherein the system further comprises a measurement receiver 408 thatreceives the physical measurement 204 from the enclosure sensor 202(e.g., a sensor controller); a measurement evaluator 410 that evaluatesthe physical measurement 204 that evaluates the physical measurement 204(e.g., comparing the physical measurement 204 to a predicted value or anominal threshold); and a message generator 412 that generates a message416 about the physical measurement 204 (e.g., an alert that describes apotential problem indicated by the physical measurement 204). Theenclosure monitor 402 further comprises a transmitter 414 thattransmits, to the monitoring service 206, the message 416 about thephysical measurement 204 of the physical property of the enclosure 106.In this manner, the example enclosure monitor 402 facilitates themaintenance of the fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment 104,and the enclosure 106 in accordance with the techniques presentedherein.

FIGS. 5A-5B present a set 500 of illustrations of example enclosures 106and enclosure monitors 402 that may deployed thereto to facilitate themonitoring of fiber-optic equipment 104 for a fiber-optic cable 102. Ina first example 502, the fiber-optic equipment may be monitored by anenclosure monitor 402 that performs physical measurements of anenclosure of fiber-optic equipment 104, and that uses the fiber-opticcable 102 to transmit messages about the physical measurements to amonitoring service 206. In a second example 504, the enclosure monitor402 may be mounted inside the enclosure 106 (e.g., affixed to aninterior surface of the enclosure 106) to perform measurements using oneor more enclosure sensors 202 embedded in the enclosure monitor 402. Ina third example 506, the enclosure monitor 402 may be deployed within ofthe enclosure 106 by use of mounting members that are positioned withinthe enclosure 106 that are selected and arranged therefor, thus enablingthe enclosure monitor 402 to be rigidly affixed to the interior surfaceof the enclosure 106. In a fourth example 508, the enclosure monitor 402is affixed to an exterior surface of the enclosure 106, and may utilizeenclosure sensors 202 that perform physical measurements 204 of physicalproperties within the enclosure 106 (e.g., enclosure sensors 202 thatare deployed within the enclosure 106 and that communicate wirelesslywith the enclosure monitor 402 mounted to the exterior, or that utilizean electrical connection to transmit and receive physical measurements204 through the enclosure 106). Many such configurations of theenclosure 106 and enclosure sensor 202 may be devised and applied inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example scenario 600 featuring otherexample embodiments of the techniques presented herein. In this examplescenario 600, an enclosure 106 of fiber-optic equipment 104 of afiber-optic cable 102 may be monitored by an enclosure monitor 402 thattransmits messages 416 about physical measurements 204 within theenclosure 106. A monitoring service 602 receives the messages 416 fromthe enclosure monitor 402, as well as messages 416 about physicalmeasurements within the enclosure 106 of other deployments offiber-optic equipment 104 that are also monitored by enclosure monitors402. The monitoring service 602 utilizes the messages 416 about thephysical measurements 204 received from the enclosure monitors 402 tofacilitate the maintenance of the fiber-optic equipment 104 and thefiber-optic network in the following manner. The monitoring service 206comprises a server having a processor 404 and a memory 406 storinginstructions that, when executed by the processor 404, cause the deviceto formulate a system that evaluate the messages 416 in the followingmanner. The system further comprises a message receiver 604 thatreceives, from respective enclosure monitors 402, a message 416 about aphysical measurement 204 of a physical property within an enclosure 106that has been detected by an enclosure sensor 202 of the enclosuremonitor 402. The system further comprise a message evaluator 606 thatevaluates the message 416 about the physical measurement 204 to identifya potential problem 208 with at least one deployment of fiber-opticequipment 104. The system also comprises an alert generator 412 thatgenerates an alert 210 about the potential problem 208, such as anidentifier of the fiber-optic equipment 104 deployed within theenclosure 106, and a maintenance task to apply to the fiber-opticequipment 104 deployed within the enclosure 106 to remediate thepotential problem 208 (e.g., inspecting, testing, and/or replacing thefiber-optic equipment 104, the fiber-optic cable 102, the enclosure 106,and/or the enclosure monitor 402). The monitoring service 602 alsocomprises a transmitter 414 that transmits the alert 210 to selectedmaintenance personnel 212 to perform the task. In this manner, themonitoring service 206 may utilize the messages 416 received from theenclosure monitors 402 about the physical conditions of the fiber-opticequipment 104 within the enclosures 106 to facilitate maintenance of thefiber-optic network in accordance with the techniques presented herein.

E. VARIATIONS

The techniques discussed herein may be devised with variations in manyaspects, and some variations may present additional advantages and/orreduce disadvantages with respect to other variations of these and othertechniques. Moreover, some variations may be implemented in combination,and some combinations may feature additional advantages and/or reduceddisadvantages through synergistic cooperation. The variations may beincorporated in various embodiments (e.g., the example enclosure 106and/or enclosure monitor 402 of FIG. 4 ; the example system createdwithin the memory 406 of the enclosure monitor 402 of FIG. 4 ; any ofthe example embodiments of enclosures 106 and/or enclosure monitors 402shown in FIGS. 5A-5B; the example monitoring service 602 of FIG. 6 ;and/or the example system created in the memory 406 of the examplemonitoring service 602 of FIG. 6 ) to confer individual and/orsynergistic advantages upon such embodiments.

E1. Scenarios

A first aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the scenarios wherein such techniques may be utilized.

As a first variation of this first aspect, the techniques presentedherein may be utilized with a variety of fiber-optic networks andcomponents. As a first such example, the techniques presented herein maybe utilized with fiber-optic equipment 104 for various types offiber-optic cables 102, including fiber-optic cables that carry variouskinds of data (e.g., voice, video, and/or network communication) invarious configurations (e.g., a variety of network topologies, such as acentralized organization in the manner of cable television networks, ora peer-based organization in the manner of a computer network). Thefiber-optic cables 102 may communicate using any wavelength of light,and may be single-mode, multi-mode, ribbon-fiber, etc. The fiber-opticcables 102 may also be connectorized and/or fusion-spliced using varioustechniques. Without limitation, the term “fiber-optic cable” 102 mayinclude any of the following: ADSS (all-dielectric self-supporting);OPGW (optical ground wire); shielded cable; dielectric cable; plenumcable; riser cable; bend-insensitive cable; rollable cable; and dropcable. As a second such example, the techniques presented herein may beapplied to many types of fiber-optic equipment 104 (e.g., hubs,converters, switches, repeaters, and fiber-optic splices). As a thirdsuch example, the techniques presented herein may be applied to manytypes of enclosures 106, and to enclosures 106 deployed in a variety oflocations (e.g., indoors vs. outdoors; at ground level, above ground, orbelow ground; and in a public or private area). It is to be noted thatthe term “enclosure” as used herein refers generally to a housing forfiber-optic equipment 104, whether such housing and/or fiber-opticequipment 104 are deployed to an outdoor location (sometimes referred tosimply a “closure”) and/or an indoor location (frequently identified asan “enclosure”), including a variety of other such scenarios, includingdeployment in space and deployment on a mobile platform such as avehicle. Any such housing of fiber-optic equipment 104 is anticipated tobe included in term “enclosure” 106. Many such types of fiber-opticcables 102, fiber-optic equipment 104, and enclosures 106 may beutilized in the techniques presented herein.

As a second variation of this first aspect, the techniques presentedherein may be implemented in various architectural configurations. As afirst such example, the enclosure 106, fiber-optic equipment 104, andenclosure monitor 402 may be manufactured and deployed together, or maybe provided as two or more separate components that are functionallycoupled during or after deployment, such as an add-on enclosure monitor402 that is added to an existing deployment of fiber-optic equipment104. As a second such example, the enclosure monitor 402 may comprise asingle unit, or a collection of two or more distinct units (e.g., anenclosure sensor 202 that is deployed within the enclosure 106 and aprocessing unit, including a transmitter 414, that is deployed outsidethe enclosure 106 and that communicates with the enclosure sensor 202using wired and/or wireless communication). Alternatively, one or moreenclosure sensors 202 may be affixed to an exterior of the enclosure106, or even at a marginal distance from the enclosure 106, that measurephysical measurements that may also relate to the interior of theenclosure 106, such as measurements of the exterior of the enclosure 106or the air temperature of the air surrounding the enclosure 106. As athird such example, the enclosure monitor 402 may comprise a processor404 and a memory 406 storing instructions that, when executed by theprocessor 404, formulate the components of a system. Alternatively, oneor more elements of the enclosure monitor 402 may be implemented as acollection of discrete components in the absence of a processor 404,such as a signal processing circuit.

As a third variation of this first aspect, the enclosure monitor(s) 402,monitoring service 602, and maintenance personnel 212 may be organizedand may communicate in various ways. As a first such example, theenclosure monitor 402 may communicate with the monitoring service 602 ina direct manner (e.g., via a direct wired or wireless connectiontherebetween); in an organized hierarchical organization (e.g., anarrangement of enclosure monitors 402 that relay and direct data to andfrom the monitoring service 602); and/or a decentralized peer-to-peer orproxy organization (e.g., a self-organizing mesh of enclosure monitors402 that automatically generate and maintain routing paths to and fromthe monitoring service 602). Still other organizational models areavailable (e.g., enclosure monitors 402 may include a wired or wirelessconnection to a computer network such as the internet, and may exchangedata with the monitoring service 602 via the network). As a second suchexample, the monitoring service 602 may comprise a single service, suchas a centralized data processing location for a region, or a collectionof monitoring services 602 that interoperate in various organizationalconfigurations (e.g., a large-scale deployment of a fiber-optic networkmay involve a variety of geographically distributed monitoring service602 that share information thereamong). As a third such example, themonitoring service 602 may communicate with maintenance personnel 212using a variety of techniques, including cellular communication, WiFicommunication, radiofrequency broadcast, and directly loadinginformation to devices carried by the network personnel 212.Alternatively or additionally, maintenance personnel 212 may directlycommunicate with enclosure monitors 402, e.g., by localized transmissionusing low-power AM/FM, RFID, Bluetooth, or WiFi, to facilitate localmaintenance without depending entirely upon communication with themonitoring service 602 (which may be advantageous, e.g., for maintenanceinvolving remote and/or distant deployments of fiber-optic equipment 104where communication with the monitoring service 602 may be unavailableand/or undependable). Generalized broadcast techniques (e.g., low-powerFM broadcast) may also be utilized, and may be advantageous, e.g., forassisting maintenance personnel 212 in the absence of specializedequipment, since such broadcasts may be locally received via widelyavailable equipment such as an FM radio. Many such configurations ofsuch components may be selected and utilized to implement the techniquespresented herein.

E2. Enclosure Sensors and Physical Measurements

A second aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the enclosure sensors 202 that measure various physicalmeasurements 204 within an enclosure 106.

As a first variation of this second aspect, the enclosure sensor 202 maycomprise a temperature sensor that measures a temperature within theenclosure 106. Such temperature may result from a combination of theregional climate, the local ambient environment (e.g., the temperaturewithin a shed housing the enclosure 106), the fiber-optic equipment 104,and other causes such as fire. The enclosure monitor 402 may use thetemperature sensor to measure the temperature, and may generate and sendmessages 416 comprising a warning of potential temperature-induced cableloss arising from the temperature within the enclosure 106.

As a second variation of this second aspect, the enclosure sensor 202may comprise a light level sensor that measures a light level within theenclosure 106. The enclosure monitor 402 may evaluate the light levelmeasurements within the enclosure 106 and, responsive to detecting highlight-level measurements, may generate and transmit messages 416 thatprovide a warning of a breach of the enclosure 106. Such breach mayoccur due to accidents (e.g., a collision that damages the enclosure106), intrusion by animals, tampering by humans, or maintenanceprocedural failures (e.g., a failure to seal and secure the enclosure106 after completing maintenance).

As a third variation of this second aspect, the enclosure sensor 202 maycomprise an inertial sensor that measures movement of the enclosure 106,such as swaying, vibration, or displacement. The enclosure monitor 402may evaluate the movement information generated by the inertial sensor,and generate and transmit messages 416 comprising a warning of excessivemovement of the enclosure 106, optionally describing the movement of theenclosure 106 to a new orientation and/or location (e.g., reportinggeocoordinates as the enclosure 106 moves from a first location to asecond location).

As a fourth variation of this second aspect, the enclosure sensor 202may comprise a pressure sensor that measures pressure within theenclosure 106 during a flash-testing of the enclosure 106 (e.g., apressurization and/or depressurization of the enclosure 106 to detectleaks that verify sealing or demonstrate leaks). The enclosure monitor402 may receive and evaluate pressure measurements during flash-testing(e.g., where a failure to exhibit or maintain pressurization and/ordepressurization indicates a failure of the seal of the enclosure 106),and may generate and send messages 416 comprising a warning that thepressure measured within the enclosure 106 during the flash-testingindicates a flash-test failure.

Various other enclosure sensors 202 may be included in an enclosuremonitor 402 that measure various other physical properties. Suchenclosure sensors 202 may include, e.g., moisture sensors that measure amoisture level within the enclosure 106; orientation sensors thatmeasure an orientation of the enclosure 106 relative to a referenceorientation; motion sensors that measures motion of the enclosure 106;vibration sensors that measure vibration of the enclosure 106; locationsensors that measure a location of the enclosure 106; and groundingsensors that measure grounding of the fiber-optic equipment 104.

As a fifth variation of this second aspect, physical measurements 204may be measured on an approximately continuously basis, such as a veryhigh frequency that is limited only by the signal processingcapabilities of the enclosure monitor 402. Alternatively, physicalmeasurements 204 may be measurements on a periodic basis. For example,the enclosure 106 may further comprise a power supply with a limitedpower capacity that powers the enclosure monitor 402, such as a battery.The enclosure sensor 202 may measure the physical measurement 204 at aperiodicity that conserves the limited power capacity, such as once perhour. As another alternative, the enclosure sensor 202 may detectphysical measurements 204 upon a triggering event (e.g., a simplemoisture sensor may be activated by the presence of moisture above athreshold, which may activate a moisture measurement sensor to measurethe moisture level for assessment of the magnitude of the potentialproblem 208). As yet another alternative, the enclosure sensor 202 maydetect physical measurements 204 on request, e.g., responsive to asignal from the monitoring service 206 indicating a command to perform aphysical measurement 204. Many such techniques may be utilized to gatherphysical measurements 204 of the physical state of the enclosure 106 inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

E3. Message Transmission Physical Measurements

A third aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the transmission of messages 416 about the physicalmeasurements 204 within the enclosure 106 to a monitoring service 206.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a set 700 of example scenarios in whichmessages 416 are transmitted to a monitoring service according to afirst variation of this third aspect. In a first example scenario 702,the enclosure sensor 202 receives physical measurements 204 of physicalproperties of the enclosure 106 and transmits messages 416 about thephysical measurements 204 using a monitoring service 206, which may beadvantageous, e.g., for preserving equipment and/or maintenance costs.Alternatively, the enclosure monitor 402 may have access to a dedicatedreporting communication channel that is separate from the fiber-opticcable 102 and that is dedicated and/or reserved for reporting physicalmeasurements 204 and delivering messages 416 to the monitoring service206, which may enable the enclosure monitor 402 to send messages 416 tothe monitoring service 206 even in the event of a complete failure ofthe fiber-optic cable 102 and/or fiber-optic equipment 104. In a secondexample scenario 704, the fiber-optic equipment 104 services a firstfiber-optic cable 102, and the enclosure monitor 402 may utilize asecond fiber-optic cable 706 to transmit messages 416 to the monitoringservice 206. The second fiber-optic cable 706. As a third example 708,the enclosure 106 may comprise a wireless transmitter 712, such as acellular transceiver, an RF broadcaster, or a Bluetooth or WiFi adapter,and the enclosure monitor 402 may transmit messages 416 to themonitoring service 206 via a wireless communication channel 714 such asa selected frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum. It may beadvantageous for configuring the wireless transmitter 712 to transmitonly periodically and/or upon detecting a potential problem 208 if theenclosure 106 is powered by a battery 710 featuring a limited powercapacity.

As a second variation of this third aspect, messages 416 may begenerated and/or transmitted on an approximately continuously basis,and/or on a periodic basis. Fir example, the enclosure 106 may furthercomprise a power supply with a limited power capacity that powers theenclosure monitor 402, such as a battery 710. The transmitter 414 maytransmit messages 416 to the monitoring service 206 at a periodicitythat conserves the limited power capacity, such as once per day. Thetransmitter 414 may transmit messages 416 upon a triggering event (e.g.,only transmitting messages 416 that indicate a potential problem 208, ortransmitting such messages 416 more promptly than messages 416indicating no potential problem 208). As yet another alternative, thetransmitter 414 may transmit messages 416 on request, e.g., responsiveto a signal from the monitoring service 206 indicating a command totransmit messages 416 describing one or more physical measurements 204of the enclosure 106.

As a third variation of this third aspect, the transmitter 414 maytransmit messages 416 using the same timing and/or triggering totransmit messages 416 as the enclosure sensor 202 uses to measure thephysical measurements 204. For example, the enclosure sensor 202 and thetransmitter 414 may use the same periodicity, such that messages 416 arepromptly transmitted after generation of the physical measurement 204 bythe enclosure sensor 202. Alternatively, the enclosure sensor 202 andthe transmitter 414 may utilize a different periodicity and/ortriggering event; e.g., the enclosure sensor 202 may measure physicalmeasurements 204 over a relatively short period (such as once per hour),and the transmitter 414 may enqueue messages 416 over the period,optionally with date- and/or timestamps. At a relatively longer period(such as once per day), the transmitter 414 may transmit the queue ofmessages 416 to the monitoring service 206 in a batch, therebypotentially conserving power as compared with transmitting individualmessages 416. As a still further variation, the enclosure sensor 202 maycontinuously and/or periodically generate physical measurements 204, andthe transmitter 414 may generate and transmit messages 416 only if thephysical measurement 204 indicates a potential problem 208 with thefiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment 104, and/or theenclosure 106.

As a fourth variation of this third aspect, the contents of the message416 may provide only the raw data output of the enclosure sensor 202,such as one more physical measurements 204 (optionally organized as asequence and/or including a timestamp). Alternatively or additionally,an enclosure monitor 402 may perform a comparison of the physicalmeasurement 204 with a reference value, and the messages 416 transmittedby the transmitter 414 may describe the comparison. As a first suchexample, the reference value may comprise a historical average of thephysical measurement 204 (e.g., past data collected from the sameenclosure monitor 402 or other enclosure monitors 402 in similarlysituated enclosures 106). As a second such example, the reference valuemay comprise an expectation of the physical measurement 204 (e.g., atypical, theoretical, expected, and/or threshold measurement value).Alternatively or additionally, the messages 416 may describe a potentialproblem 208 with the fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment104, and/or the enclosure 106 that may be indicated by the physicalmeasurement 204 and/or the rationale for identifying the physicalmeasurement 204 as a potential problem 208 (e.g., the reference valueagainst which the physical measurement 204 was compared, and/or a seriesof physical measurements 204 demonstrating a trend). The messages mayalso include other information, such as performance measurements of aperformance of the fiber-optic cable 102; performance measurements of aperformance of the fiber-optic equipment 104; model information of thefiber-optic equipment 104; a deployment and/or maintenance history ofthe fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment 104, the enclosure106, and/or the enclosure monitor 402; and/or power status informationabout a power supply of the enclosure monitor 402, such as batterycapacity of a battery 710.

As a fifth variation of this third aspect, the transmitter 414 maytransmit messages 416 directly to a monitoring service 206.Alternatively or additionally, the transmitter 414 may transmit messages416 to a monitoring service 206 indirectly, e.g., via a proxy orgateway. As yet another alternative or additional technique, thetransmitter 414 may store messages 416 until receiving a connection froma data store that relays messages 416 to the monitoring service 206,which may be advantageous, e.g., for remote deployments with onlylimited communication capability to reach the monitoring service 206. Asyet another alternative or additional technique, the transmitter 414 maytransmit messages 416 to a device of maintenance personnel 212, e.g.,via Bluetooth to a mobile computing device and/or via RF broadcast forpresentation by an AM or FM radio. Many such techniques may be utilizedto transmit messages 416 involving the physical measurements 204 inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

E4. Uses of Physical Measurements

A fourth aspect that may vary among embodiments of these techniquesrelates to the use of messages 416 about the physical measurements 204within the enclosure 106 by the monitoring service 206 and/ormaintenance personnel 212 to facilitate the maintenance of thefiber-optic equipment 104 and the fiber-optic network.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example scenario 800 featuring a firstuse of physical measurements 204 in the context of verifyingflash-testing of an enclosure 106 after installation. In this examplescenario 800, the enclosure 106 comprises (as an enclosure sensor 202) apressure sensor 804 that measures the pressure inside the enclosure 106,and as a first example 802, the a pressure measurement 204 while theenclosure 106 is not sealed of approximately atmosphere. As a secondexample 806, during installation 110, the enclosure 106 may bepressurized (e.g., to 1.5 atmospheres) as a flash-test to verify thatthe enclosure 106 is fully sealed. The pressure sensor 804 may perform apressure measurement 204 that indicates that the pressurized enclosure106 holds the increased pressure for at least a threshold period, andthe enclosure monitor 402 may transmit a message 416 to the monitoringservice 206 comprising a flash-test report that indicates a successfulflash-test. As a third example 808, an inadvertent gap 112 in theenclosure 106 may result in a failure of the enclosure 106 to hold theincreased pressure during flash-testing, resulting in a pressuremeasurement 204 that does not change. The enclosure monitor 402 maytransmit a message 416 to the monitoring service 206 comprising aflash-test report that indicates a failed flash-test, thus prompting themonitoring service 206 to request maintenance personnel 212 to inspectthe enclosure 106 and/or perform a second attempt to flash-test theenclosure 106. Although not shown, another example involves an absenceof any message 416 about flash-test results to the enclosure monitor402, representing an omission of flash-testing by the maintenancepersonnel 212 during installation 110. In this manner, the enclosuremonitor 402 may promote and verify the flash-testing of fiber-opticequipment 104 and enclosures 106.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a set 900 of example scenarios illustratingsome uses of the messages 416 from an enclosure monitor 402 about thephysical measurements 204 of the enclosure 106. As a first variation 902of this fourth aspect, the enclosure sensor 202 may further comprises atleast one of a location sensor and an orientation sensor, and themessages 416 transmitted by the enclosure monitor 402 to a maintenancepersonnel device 906 (e.g., via RF, RFID, or Bluetooth) may include atleast one of a location measurement from the location sensor of theenclosure 106 and an orientation measurement from the orientation sensorof the enclosure 106. Transmitting such messages 416 to the maintenancepersonnel device 906 may enable the maintenance personnel device 906 topresent, to maintenance personnel 212, an augmented reality presentation908 that depicts a view 904 of a local environment of the enclosure 106overlaid with a depiction 910 of the location and/or orientation of theenclosure 106 within the environment. As a second such example, themessages 416 transmitted to the maintenance personnel device 906 mayinclude a variety of information about the enclosure 106 that may assistthe maintenance personnel 212 in performing maintenance tasks, such asthe location (e.g., street address, room number, and/or geocoordinate)of the enclosure 106; the type of fiber-optic equipment 104 stored inthe enclosure 106; the installation date and/or maintenance history ofthe fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment 104, the enclosure106, and/or the enclosure monitor 402; information about the fiber-opticcable 102, such as a splice count and/or whether the fiber-optic cable102 is fused or connectorized; a potential problem 208 indicated by thephysical measurement 204; and/or a maintenance task to remediate thepotential problem 208, such as inspection, testing, repair, and/orreplacement of the fiber-optic cable 102, the fiber-optic equipment 104,the enclosure 106, and/or the enclosure monitor 402. As a third suchexample, the enclosure 106 may further comprise a lock that locks theenclosure monitor to reduce unauthorized access to the fiber-opticequipment 104. The personnel maintenance device 906 may include anoption 912 to disengage the lock in order to permit the maintenancepersonnel 212 to access the contents of the enclosure 106, and maytransmit such a request to the enclosure 106 upon activation by themaintenance personnel 212. The enclosure monitor 402 may furthercomprise a lock actuator that receives the request from maintenancepersonnel device 906 and unlocks the lock to permit access to thefiber-optic equipment 104. The enclosure monitor 402 may also acceptrequests to lock the enclosure 106 when maintenance is complete, and/ormay notify the monitoring service 206 of locking and/or unlocking eventsarising with respect to the enclosure 106.

As a second variation 914 of this fourth aspect, a monitoring service206 may utilize the messages 416 from the enclosure monitor 402 tofacilitate the deployment of maintenance personnel 212. For example, themonitoring service 206 may have access to at least two maintenancepersonnel 212 who are capable of performing a maintenance task toaddress a potential problem 208 indicated by the physical measurements204 (e.g., geocoordinates that respectively indicate the locations 920within a region 916 of the maintenance personnel 212). The locations 920of maintenance personnel 212 and the locations 918 of enclosures 106(either all enclosures 106 or only those subject to a potential problem208) may be displayed on a map interface for an administrator. As asecond such example, the monitoring service 206 may, for the respectivemaintenance personnel 212, identify a distance of the maintenancepersonnel to the enclosure; identify a selected maintenance personnel212 that, among the available maintenance personnel, has a shortestdistance to the enclosure 106; and transmit an alert 210 to the selectedmaintenance personnel to request a maintenance task. As a third suchexample, the monitoring service 206 may identify maintenance tasks to beperformed, respectively, on at least at least two enclosures 106, andmay schedule, triage, and deploy maintenance personnel 212 according topriority. For example, the maintenance service 206 may identify arelative priority of the potential problems 208 indicated by themessages 416 from the respective enclosures 106, and triage the messagesaccording to the relative priorities of the potential problems 208. Themonitoring service 206 may also transmit alerts 210 of maintenance taskto the maintenance personnel 212 according to the triaging of themessages 416 (e.g., first selecting and alerting maintenance personnel212 to first address the most serious potential problem 208, and theniteratively selecting among the remaining maintenance personnel 212 toperform the remaining maintenance tasks in order of descending priorityof the maintenance tasks). As one such example, priority may beestablished using a variety of factors, such as a value of performingthe maintenance task (e.g., the severity, costliness, and/orinconvenience of a communication outage 118), and the monitoring service206 may identify, and use in dispatching maintenance personnel 212, arelative priority that maximizes the value of performing the maintenancetask. Many such configurations of monitoring services 206 and messages416 about the physical measurements 204 within the enclosures 106 may beutilized in accordance with the techniques presented herein.

F. USAGE OF TERMS

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system”,“interface”, and the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. One or more components maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, those skilled inthe art will recognize many modifications may be made to thisconfiguration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimedsubject matter.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. In oneembodiment, one or more of the operations described may constitutecomputer readable instructions stored on one or more computer readablemedia, which if executed by a computing device, will cause the computingdevice to perform the operations described. The order in which some orall of the operations are described should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. Alternativeordering will be appreciated by one skilled in the art having thebenefit of this description. Further, it will be understood that not alloperations are necessarily present in each embodiment provided herein.

Any aspect or design described herein as an “example” is not necessarilyto be construed as advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather,use of the word “example” is intended to present one possible aspectand/or implementation that may pertain to the techniques presentedherein. Such examples are not necessary for such techniques or intendedto be limiting. Various embodiments of such techniques may include suchan example, alone or in combination with other features, and/or may varyand/or omit the illustrated example.

As used in this application, the term “or” is intended to mean aninclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specifiedotherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to meanany of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” issatisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, thearticles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims may generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specifiedotherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs thefunction in the herein illustrated example implementations of thedisclosure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosuremay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof areused in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: fiber-optic equipment for afiber-optic cable; an enclosure that houses the fiber-optic equipment;and an enclosure monitor comprising: one or more enclosure sensors thatmeasure one or more physical measurements of one or more physicalproperties of the enclosure; and a transmitter that transmits, to amonitoring service, one or more messages about the one or more physicalmeasurements of the one or more physical properties of the enclosure,wherein: the one or more enclosure sensors comprise at least one of atemperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a humidity sensor, a motionsensor, an orientation sensor, a vibration sensor, or a light levelsensor that measures a physical property within the enclosure duringtesting of the enclosure, and the one or more messages comprise awarning that the physical property measured within the enclosure duringthe testing indicates at least one of a test failure or a successfultest.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter transmits atleast one message of the one or more messages to the monitoring serviceusing the fiber-optic cable.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the oneor more enclosure sensors comprise at least one of: a location sensorthat measures a location of the enclosure; or a grounding sensor thatmeasures grounding of the fiber-optic equipment.
 4. The device of claim1, wherein the one or more messages comprise: at least one messagecorresponding to a comparison of at least one of the one or morephysical measurements with at least one historical average of the one ormore physical measurements.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the one ormore messages comprise: at least one message corresponding to acomparison of at least one of the one or more physical measurements withat least one expectation of the one or more physical measurements. 6.The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more physical measurementscomprise a series of physical measurements of a physical property of theone or more physical properties and the one or more messages comprise:at least one message corresponding to a comparison of a reference valueagainst the series of physical measurements demonstrating a trend in thephysical property over a time period, wherein the trend predicts apotential failure.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the one or moremessages comprise: a message directed to selected maintenance personnelto dispatch the selected maintenance personnel to address the potentialfailure predicted by the trend in the physical property over the timeperiod.
 8. A device comprising: fiber-optic equipment for a fiber-opticcable; an enclosure that houses the fiber-optic equipment; and anenclosure monitor comprising one or more enclosure sensors that measureone or more physical measurements of one or more physical properties ofthe enclosure, wherein: the one or more enclosure sensors comprise atleast one of a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a humidity sensor,a motion sensor, an orientation sensor, a vibration sensor, or a lightlevel sensor that measures a physical property within the enclosureduring testing of the enclosure.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein theone or more physical measurements comprise a plurality of physicalmeasurements of a physical property of the one or more physicalproperties over a time period indicative of a trend in the physicalproperty that predicts a potential failure.
 10. The device of claim 9,wherein the device is configured to generate a message to dispatchselected maintenance personnel to address the potential failurepredicted by the trend.
 11. An enclosure monitor that monitorsfiber-optic equipment for a fiber-optic cable and housed by anenclosure, the enclosure monitor comprising: an enclosure sensor thatmeasures a physical measurement of a physical property of the enclosure;and a transmitter that transmits a localized transmission comprising amessage about the physical measurement of the physical property of theenclosure, wherein: the enclosure sensor comprises at least one of atemperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a humidity sensor, a motionsensor, an orientation sensor, a vibration sensor, or a light levelsensor that measures the physical property within the enclosure duringtesting of the enclosure; and the message comprises a warning that thephysical property measured within the enclosure during the testingindicates at least one of a test failure or a successful test.
 12. Theenclosure monitor of claim 11, wherein the localized transmissioncomprises at least one of cellular communication, wireless fidelity(WiFi) communication, radio frequency broadcast, Bluetooth, ordirect-loading of information to an electronic device carried byassociated maintenance personnel.
 13. The enclosure monitor of claim 11,comprising a receiver mounted to the enclosure, the receiver configuredto receive communication from associated maintenance personnel, thecommunication comprising at least one of radio frequency broadcast orWiFi communication.
 14. The enclosure monitor of claim 11, wherein theenclosure sensor measures the physical measurement at a periodicity thatconserves a limited power capacity of a power supply of the enclosurethat powers the enclosure monitor.
 15. The enclosure monitor of claim14, wherein the transmitter transmits at a second periodicity thatconserves the limited power capacity.
 16. The enclosure monitor of claim11, wherein the localized transmission corresponds to a comparison of areference value against a series of physical measurements of thephysical property, including the physical measurement, demonstrating atrend in the physical property over a time period.
 17. The enclosuremonitor of claim 16, wherein the trend predicts a potential failure. 18.The enclosure monitor of claim 17, wherein the message is directed toselected maintenance personnel to dispatch the selected maintenancepersonnel to address the potential failure.
 19. The enclosure monitor ofclaim 11, wherein the transmitter stores the message between a time atwhich the message is generated and a second time at which a dataconnection is established from a data store, the data store configuredto relay the message to a monitoring service.
 20. A device that providesa monitoring service for fiber-optic equipment, the device comprising: aprocessor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the monitoring service to: receive, from an enclosuremonitor, a message about a physical measurement of a physical propertywithin an enclosure that has been detected by an enclosure sensor of theenclosure monitor, wherein the enclosure houses the fiber-opticequipment; evaluate the message about the physical measurement toidentify a potential problem with the fiber-optic equipment; andtransmit to selected maintenance personnel: an identifier of thefiber-optic equipment; an alert of the potential problem with thefiber-optic equipment; and a maintenance task to apply to thefiber-optic equipment to remediate the potential problem.